There are three AYCE chinese buffets that I know of that have mongolian bbq. Old Towne Buffe on 611t in Abbington, PA is the largest. Hong Kong buffet in Bensalem in the shopping center at the corner of Street Road and Bustleton Pike has it, as does Dynasty Buffet at Franklin Mills. However if you are used to a restaurant that features Mongolian buffet you will be disappointed by the quality and selection of ingredients. Its just a style of cooking that has not found a hook in the Philadelphia area. I know that there are some in central jersey if you are set upon a restaurant dedicated to that style of cooking including restaurants in Brick NJ and in New Brunswick.

I don't mean to butt in here, but I used to live in the DC area, so I thought I'd share. My most missed food attraction of DC was Eastern Market. It's somewhat like RTM, but with many fewer stands and much more emphasis on unprepared foods. There were a few meat and fish stands with many different types and cuts of game and upwards of 25 different types of fresh sausage. The Half-Smoke is a sausage unique to DC that was near and dear to my heart after a few trips to EM. On the weekends there is a huge migration of farmers and craft stands outside. Another of the highlights was a barbecue station on weekends that had all different kinds of meat going in a smoker outside all morning, and there was a good crepe stand as well.

Other than that, I didn't get into the dining scene there until late, so I have little experience with restaurants. Tony Cheng's dim sum was very good, but I've heard Ocean Harbor rivals it here and for much cheaper. Then there was 2 Amys pizza which was the best east-coast pizza I've had so far, granted I haven't tried Tacconelli's yet. 2 Amys is an attempt in the Neapolitan style most comparable to Stella in Philly, but better than Stella IMO. Finally, I do miss Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery. Pretty good burgers, great shakes, and the best fries I've ever had, hands down. The fries were cut much shorter than normal fries and covered in fresh herbs(rosemary, basil, etc.), and he had different types of mayo to dip them in, old bay mayo being the local favorite.

Though I miss these parts, I truly place Philly over DC because I am a sandwich fiend and this is the sandwich capital of America.

Barry thanks for reminding me about Birra. I had anticipated its opening because I understood they were featuring italian beers. They have received very little buzz, and I am really excited to hear their pizza is up to snuff. How would compare the crust to Zavino, (my personal favorite), Barbuzzo, Osteria or P. Stella? I am looking for a little char, a little chew and interesting toppings that do not rely upon a backbone of marinara, (and a white clam pizza rivaling now closed Hudson street in trenton would be a nice plus... )

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to visit some of these places soon. D'Angelo's does have a great list for sausage, but I've been turned off by the "gruff" nature of the owner. I'll have to give it another try.

My only experience was, not surprisingly, in Mongolia. My recollection was of a huge (6-foot ?) hammered metal pan over a charcoal pit. The meats and vegetables were placed in the center while the chef stirred and turned them with giant (also several ft. long) "chopsticks" while additional ingredients were added and the fire stoked underneath. Is this what you mean? If so, I don't think Philly has anything like that, but I'd surely be interested.CP

Well....that's what I saw through a front window in Ulaan Baatar. My guide discouraged me from eating there (for sanitation reasons) and instead recommended an Indian restaurant. But the establishment I viewed was touted as Mongolian barbque. And, yes, they served the beer of their national hero who now has his own beer label - Khan Brau.

It makes sense that Mongolian barbque did not originate with a nomadic people as carrying that size of a grill around on horseback would have been cumbersome. Thanks for the cultural update.CP

This is what Mongolian Barbecue is in the DC area. Not all places do a real fire pit(in fact, I think few use a real fire pit), but they nonetheless have the huge flat-top grill. Much like the flat grill used for cheesesteaks, but round and from what I remember they are around 12-15 feet in diameter.

Surprisingly the best of this style I've had was actually in Boston at Fire & Ice. Very good stuff.

I think I posted this exact request about 7 years ago when we moved up here from DC! so far none of the chinese buffets we've found in the Philly area that have "mongolian" are even close to the places we enjoyed in DC. :(